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Page 13 <br /> a. General Excise Tax Power with 0.50% earmarked for public <br /> transportation.' <br /> b. TAT revenues up to what can be justified.2 <br /> c. Liquor and tobacco taxes for drug prevention, education, and <br /> enforcement up to a certain amount, with condition that evidence <br /> based prevention gets 70% of funds. <br /> d. Conveyance Tax Surcharge (TBD) to fund the county's affordable <br /> housing program. <br /> 1. Conditions: Sources of revenues to be available only if: <br /> a. A county is paid in full on health and pension contributions. <br /> b. A county has a reserve policy. The county must set aside at least <br /> % of revenues as reserve. <br /> c. Measurable results of drug prevention and enforcement are <br /> achieved as certified by third party auditor to Department of <br /> Health. <br /> d. A county must have a strategic plan. (e.g. See the Office of <br /> Hawaiian Affairs' Strategic Plan) <br /> e. Property taxes make up at least 70% of the operating budget. <br /> f. The fees for services by the county are updated regularly. <br /> V. A Work in Progress: <br /> The purpose here is to suggest the concept of a portfolio of limited taxing <br /> powers and revenue sharing and to recognize the Legislature's interest in <br /> making sure that the conveyed powers/revenues are efficiently and effectively <br /> used without causing an undue burden on taxpayers. This is offered as a <br /> beginning concept for all of us to collaborate on. If the HSAC Executive <br /> Committee feels this approach has merit, a special committee could possibly <br /> be appointed to work on this concept with representatives from the mayors <br /> group and/or this could be the major focus of discussion at our next HSAC <br /> Convention. <br /> Next to early education, it is said that public transportation is the best investment a community <br /> can make. The return on investment in terms of traffic congestion reduction, energy savings, <br /> lower household transportation costs,reduced greenhouse gases and smaller government costs <br /> due to more compact development patterns are the largest per public dollar spent. <br /> 2 TAT is a necessity as counties bear a tremendous fiscal burden in servicing visitors. <br />